Summer Swim Team Season is Here

Now that the school season has ended, many area children are already saying, "Mom, Dad- I'm bored!," leaving frustrated parents thinking, "how many days until school starts again?"

Our family has had a fantastic experience filling the early dog days of summer by participating in our neighborhood swim team.   For the past four years, from early June-early July, daily practices and weekly meets at the pool have peppered our calendar.

My two daughters pretty much learned to swim through the team's CPR certified coaches (many of whom are accomplished junior high and high school aged swimmers themselves).

Practices and the meets are just now underway and area teams are always on the look-out for new members, especially kids in the 11-18 year old bracket, although children from the age of four are welcomed to the team.

Even if your child has never swam competitively before, swim team is an excellent opportunity to learn proper stroke skills and meet new friends while also getting excellent exercise!

Most teams offer morning practices and evening practices (for working parents or for when students miss the morning practice for summer camps or VBS), Thursday evening swim meets and "Fun Fridays" (which are just that- fun in the pool and also time to recognize those swimmers who have had accomplishments that week).

One of the fathers on our team, who has four children ages 8-15 and has been involved with the team for many years, likes participating in swim team activities because it's the only sport where all of his children can participate on the same team.  The meets for all four kids are at the same time (thus cutting down on running around for the activities of four kids and leaving some time for family trips and such).

Teams in the Peachtree Corners and Berkeley Lake area that area accepting swimmers include (click on the team name for more information):

• Berkeley Hills Country Club Barracudas
• Jones Bridge River Station Rapid Barracudas
• Spalding Corners Sharks
• Peachtree Corners Swim & Racquet Club
• The Fields Club (must live in Amberfield, Riverfield or Linfield to join).
• Peachtree Station (must live in Peachtree Station to join).

To join any of the first four teams, you do not need to live in a particular neighborhood, and your family does not need to be members of the pool either.

Most teams have a sliding scale of how much it costs to participate, typically ranging from $80-$90 a season for the youngest group of swimmers to free for the 15-18 year old group.

The standard practice and meet schedule ends in early July, typically right before the 4th of July holiday.  The top swimmers in the county advance to a county wide meet, which will take place this summer on July 16-17 at the Georgia Tech pool (the same pool where the 1996 Summer Olympics took place!).

For more information about the Gwinnett County Swim League, click here.